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Fallout from the Rasmus slide

Tonight’s game story on the incident at second base between Colby Rasmus and Omar Infante can be found on the main site (bluejays.com) but here are some of the leftovers that didn’t make it into the piece with reaction from both sides:

Colby Rasmus:

On the play….
“I just treated it like any other time when I’m on first base. Rajai hit a groundball so I was coming in hard trying to break up the double play. Nothing was different.”

Where the point of contact was…
“It happens pretty fast but I think I got him right around in his cleats, probably ankle.”

On Tigers players wanting a suspension….
“That’s their thought on it. There’s nothing different than I ever do, I feel like. I go in hard every time and my intention is never to hurt anybody or anything like that. I was taught that early in this game and that’s how I play. I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen but it’s no different than any time I come in.”

On if anything was said by Tigers players….
“Nobody said anything to me. Obviously they’re going to be upset but that’s just part of the game.”

John Gibbons:

“I don’t comment on those things publicly. Possibly controversial plays. It’s got to be because you’re asking about it. But that never does anything good. It could inflame some things, so I’d rather not comment on those things.”

Max Scherzer:

“That was very dirty. I didn’t like that at all. He didn’t need to slide into second base like that. That’s something that’s not in this game. That’s something where, if we were to retaliate on him, we’d get suspended, but really he should get suspended for making a slide like that. He slid way too late, when you look at it on replay. I understand playing the game hard, but that’s not a clean play.”

“That’s a big blow, because of how well (Infante’s) done, production defensively and production offensively. He’s put together great at-bats and keeps the lineup, makes it a hard out in the bottom part of the lineup. He’s a critical reason why we’ve been good this year.”

“We’re really mad about that slide. That’s a very dirty play in my book. You watch it on replay, he’s spikes-up, he’s sliding late. Rajai Davis is running there. He’s going to be safe at first. You’re most likely not going to turn two there. There’s no reason to slide in like that. That’s why I said I feel like he should be suspended. Obviously our nature is we want to retaliate, but when we retaliate, we get suspended. It really should be his suspension. If MLB can look at me and judge whether I hit him and I should get a suspended, well, can’t MLB look at him and judge he should get a suspension? … That’s what’s crap about the whole suspension thing. It’s only if you throw at somebody. No, that’s not right. He should have a suspension.”

“You knew it was a bad injury, the way he grabbed. He didn’t even get up. That’s what happens when you play dirty.”

Torii Hunter:

“My eyes were on him, but I was on the whole situation. I was just upset. To come in like that, that’s fine. It’s no big deal. I was just mad. It hurt, first of all, he came up and in, and he took out my second baseman. So I kind of vented.”

“They’re not going to try to hit me right there, not with Miggy behind me and 6-0. That’s not why I was upset, trust me. I’m not upset with anyone there.”

“I thought it was a dirty slide. Simple as that.”

“That’s the only way I can vent. I wanted to vent and I’m sorry. No, I’m not.”

“I’m here to win. You take away somebody like that that’s very important to our ballclub, I’m upset. I’m a veteran guy. I want to win. It ain’t about stats. It ain’t about selfishness. I want to win. And when you take out a guy dirty like that, I’m upset.”

“The lateness of the slide, the spikes were high, it was all wrong. 5-0. Rajai Davis is running. It made no sense to do that at all. I’ve been around the game. Trust me, I’ve broken up a lot of double plays. You’re not going to do it that way. With Rajai running, 5-0? Come on. He knows he messed up. Look in the mirror.”

Omar Infante:

“That play, I don’t think he needs to slide into me like that. I think that’s dirty. That’s a dirty play. I know you come in to break up a double play, but not like that. That’s too much. I know some players play hard and some players don’t think about another player, but that slide, that’s dirty. I mean, that’s too much.”

“I see the replay. That’s bad.”

“I was surprised, because that’s the first time that’s happened to me.”

It seems everybody on the Tigers knew they weren’t going to get Davis, so why didn’t Infante jump and avoid the slide? It’s not on Rasmus to check how fast Davis is running. What’s he going to do, look over his shoulder? Infante had a choice when Rasmus was on top of him. Jump, or throw and take the hit. He chose to throw. Next time, maybe he will jump. That’s the way you play baseball.

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